Fatbikes

I went to the cycle show at the NEC and saw plenty of fat bikes and thought, mmmm, nice. I can see the potential versatility (like running 29er, becoming a bikepacking machine) lots of fun and grip, and they look great. I do worry about them being a bit slow and a bit heavy, and the one fatbike i have ridden (a Voodoo Wazoo) had comical self-steer. Is that something you just have to get used to?

I’m becoming more and more tempted…

Front suspension or rigid ? Do you need springy forks with those big mutha tyres

they’re not necessarily slow

+1, mines rigid, but I’m 90% tempted to sell it and buy a Fatty Trail. The tyres take the edge off things, but it’s still a rigid bike, braking bumps, coming up short on jumps, landings to flat etc still hurt.

Go on then…what’s the ‘full fat bike du jour’ nowadays..?

It used to teh the O-O fatty, given it’s pricepoint.
What should a lowly skinny bike rider be looking at?

DrP

Probably still an O-O. Either the Fatty or the Trail. There’s others that are close in value but the slightly more progressive* geometry is an absolute hoot. And the only thing that’s wrong with the O-O is the original wheels which were a PITA to tubeless, but that’s not insurmountable with a couple of rolls of electrical tape and the Trail comes with different (presumably better) rims.

*hate the term, but you know what I mean

I do worry about them being a bit slow and a bit heavy, and the one fatbike i have ridden (a Voodoo Wazoo) had comical self-steer. Is that something you just have to get used to?

It is a bit slow and heavy, embrace that, carry more speed into corners, use that added control and come out cackling manically. TBH I don’t notice the Fatty being heavy, but I do notice my other bikes feeling light afterwards, which gets scary when you find yourself going faster and completely out of control without the big wheels!

The self steer seems a combination of tyres and pressures. The better the tyre and the higher the pressure the less self steer. Having said that my Fatty did it initially, but now I can ride it no-handed, so maybe it’s 6 of one to 1/2 dozen the other and I’ve learnt to compensate for it.

The OO fatty is a great bike at a price, but that may mean havier componemts, even the tubes are almost a kilo…. its how it gets down to a price point. A fair chunk of weight is in the wheels, tubes and tyres. Folk have bought these and upgraded and shed a lot of weight but may have done better getting a low milage more expensive model, s/h.to start with.

Getting a frame only and doing a build can be a challenge as Fatbike stuff is different, hubs, bb’s for example. A full build gets around this.

Loads of bikes now from major manufactureres some being better value than others…. some available in the UK, some not. Just a matter of checking it all out.

Silverback Scoop / Double Scoop seem great value
Salsa
Spesh
ICAN Chinese carbon from ebay

To name a few…

Silverback Scoop / Double Scoop seem great value

Not easy to actually buy unfortunately.

Thanks TINAS, all useful stuff to hear. The fatty trail does look good and i’m sure the geometry makes it fun (I have a Parkwood already), be nice if they did a fatty trail rolling chassis bundle…

A fair chunk of weight is in the wheels, tubes and tyres. Folk have bought these and upgraded and shed a lot of weight but may have done better getting a low milage more expensive model, s/h.to start with.

Maybe, but even counting retail price for the bits I’ve upgraded mine with I still think mine was <£1k (bought the original bike in the sale).

Carbon fork,
Reverb,
Carbon bars,
Tubeless,
1×10
Foam grips

Ok the X5 chainset isn’t going to win any awards, but it does it’s job well and the weight saved upgrading isn’t worthwhile.

Couple that with the fact there isn’t really a s/h fatbike market yet. You can’t just go on Ebay and find a specific bike in the size/spec you want. And O-O, by being later to the game, got to tweek the geometry, there’s a world of difference between a s/h Pugsley frame and a Fatty, it’s taken till now for Surly to come back with the Wednesday. So again, you’re probably a year or two off seeing those 2nd hand.

I dunno, I think the Voodoo and the Calibre and a couple of others are making some of the existing options look pretty ill, now that you can get a quality fatbike for £600 or thereabouts… Once the Wazoo’s back in stock (end of month apparently) and the Dune gets its other sizes (early next year) anyway. People are still trying to sell Fattys for more than those 2 cost new and frankly I’d rather have either. We’ve already seen some price slashing with that Verenti in response.

The Trail’s pretty impressive though.

and the Dune gets its other sizes (early next year)

Are you fairly sure? I’ll hold off buying something more expensive if that’s the case.

Interesting to hear the Wazoo will be back in stock and Calibre sorting out sizing (i’m too tall for a current one). I’ve got plenty of parts waiting to instantly upgrade something like that…

Interesting to hear the Wazoo will be back in stock and Calibre sorting out sizing (i’m too tall for a current one). I’ve got plenty of parts waiting to instantly upgrade something like that…

Same here…

So they say anyway. And for the Wazoo, Halfords have “late november” on the website though no guarantee the spec’ll be the same.

Good news. I’ll wait for a Dune.

what tyres for the current uk claggy slop?

Bud/Lou or Nates was the advice I got though Buds seem to be mostly out of stock. Ordered one from Triton but I reckon they might find they can’t get it from the distributor…

Very pleased with my Genesis Caribou. Bought it in August as a second bike to my 160/140mm Trance SX.
It covers 3 bases really well, as a pub / towpath bike, a bike to “go places on ( longer not overly technical rides ) maybe a bit of bike packing thrown in, it has more bottle cage bolts than Halfords. Lastly as a winter bike, for just getting out and churning some muddy miles locally, when some of the more technical trails are best leat til Spring when the mud is drying again.
Love the gangly simplicity of its steel, 1 1/8 headset, frame.
TRP Spyke mech disc brakes are very good.
All I have done to change the spec ( and apart from going to investigate tubeless properly , intend to do) is to put a flat 760mm bar on it, as I really couldn’t get on with the slightly back swept one and pop an expander 42 cog on the cassette for those real steep ” damnit, I ain’t pushing ” climbs.
Paid a shade over £800 and seen them at about this price in a few places , I think list was about £1100.

Whilst you’re all here…

Any tyre recommendations for something that rolls better than a Nate (pretty much everything)? I know fatbikes are never ideal on tarmac, but I’m looking for something that strikes a better balance for tarmac/sand/trail.

I wonder if sticking a Knard on the back would do.

Lots more choice on the market this year and I’ve not kept up.

Ive never had a Nate, but what about a Floater?
When I do road rides with mates on their road bikes, I was using V8’s, but A few times I couldn’t be bothered swapping tyres and just left the floaters on, put them up to 20psi and found they weren’t that much harder to pedal.

Nothing to compare it to by my floaters seem Ok as far as rolling goes.

I’d like to try something else but at £95 for a Bud or £25 for a floater the floater is more than good enough.

Floaters for summer and trails, Nates for Winter and snow.

another waiting for the Wazoo to come back in stock. If it’s the same rrp as it was then BC 10% discount makes it a bargain “oh go on then” toe dip, and my unused unloved hardtail has lots of decent kit that could be swapped over.

I’ve just got this

2015-10-31_03-10-55 by Allan[/url], on Flickr

to replace my trusty O-O Fatty. Just so I can run 5″ tyres (for all this snow we’re due).

So the Fatty will have to go shortly, its been great, I’ve never had such a capable and adaptable bike which has given so much fun!

IMG_20150512_201710441_HDR by Allan[/url], on Flickr

Had the first ride on my Fatty Trail last night, swapped over a few components, 1×10 and tubeless and it weighs 14.4kg which isn’t too bad.
Didn’t notice any self steer, which I did with my Fatty, although the new tyres probably helped.
The ElGuapo wheels go up tubeless easy, the tyre is a tighter fit on the rim, and they don’t suffer from the tyre seating/wobble issue that the original did.
However my back tyre went flat during the ride, it would appear that the join in the rim is poor and allowed air to escape, going to put Gorilla tape up the edges of the sidewall to try and fix it.

HuDus

Got a pair of lightly used Panaracer Fat B Nimbles for sale if anyone wants some light and fast rolling tyres

40mpg – I got a Fatboy Expert in the sales, and it’s a hoot.

I ditched the standard Spesh tubes as they weighed nearly a pound each! I hope the newer models have a lighter version.

Mind you, there’s not many bikes you can knock 1lb off the weight for less than £20!

Loving my new nates. Love the slop. Still found them a handful on wet roots. But not found a tyre on any bike that makes up for lack of skill and speed! The Nates grip well, roll reasonably. Great all round tyre.

Some nice machines on here ….are you using specific chainsets or special bottom brackets with tapered crank arms to the desired Q factor ?

There is also a massive difference between the 27tpi version and the 120tpi version.

few more upgrades to mine since! Just waiting for Smokstone bikes to release their ‘Henderson’ Frame! to upgrade to!

as a slight aside, anyone transporting these on Thule 591’s and how do you fit and secure the wheels into the tyre trays ?

ScottChegg – Member
I ditched the standard Spesh tubes as they weighed nearly a pound each! I hope the newer models have a lighter version.

Cheers, I’ll have a look into that. It weighed up half a pound lighter than my (slightly skinnied) Fatty on the bathroom scales despite the bigger tyres. Would be good to drop a bit more (cheaply) 😀

My mate used a couple of sections of profiled guttering cut to size and shape to accept his 4.6 tyres then fitted them and bolted them all to his carriers…..I know it’s devalued the carrier but he’s not getting rid of his fat bike ever….
For me I just throw it in the back of the van……

Aiston rack with fat tyre racks.

#smugface

(later figured out there’s no need for the bungee’s if you adjust it right, should have read the instructions)

Bog standard 591 roof rack and old-skool toe straps to go round the tyres. Nothing going nowhere with that.

2015-10-18_05-48-54 by Allan[/url], on Flickr

ScottChegg – Member

I ditched the standard Spesh tubes as they weighed nearly a pound each! I hope the newer models have a lighter version.

Ironic really considering that specialized’s 3.0 dh tyres used to be a popular lightweight fatbike option. (maybe still are?)

Maybe they are, but the 4.6″ version is bloody heavy. I keep them as spares and I can tell when it’s in my pack.

Charlie the Bikemonger sorted me some lightweight tubes in a trice.

I use the Specialized 3.0, but that’s in 4″ tyres.

Damn, my fat curiosity has now piqued.

Ok, so I have a few questions..

A concern for me has been standards chaging constantly whilst fats find their feet. So bearings/seals/bb’s etc, all the bits that usually hate mud and grit – how much trouble do you have sourcing them, seeing as these bikes are largely used in such conditons?

what kind of average speeds are you managing on your usual trail runs? much up or down on your normal 26/27.5/29 runs?

do you feel more tired after a given distance riding these?

can you take steep drops and hit tabletops etc (given the opportunity) just as you would a standard bike? I’d imagine you’d have to think twice about the ‘gnar’ jumps as surely gravity takes over sooner on a fat?

How many of you ride fat and easily keep up with non-fat mates on a ride, or find you are beating them?

oh yeah, fat fatty riders – how low do you go with PSI before your tyres burp constantly? I’ve always assumed that fat tyres at low pressures dont mix well with lardy types?

I’m really keen, plus I love the perceived value of the OO Trail, but I prefer to ride steel if possible. Can’t help feel that i’d prefer to run a Bluto, though. Almost want to buy the OO Trial just to drop all that weight in going tubeless too!

Postierich’s pic on Pg1 is where I want to be. If I can add silly amounts of grip to loose lines then i’d imagine a grin inducing ride is never far away.

There is also a massive difference between the 27tpi version and the 120tpi version.

How so? 120tpi use a different compound? Or just due to the more supple carcass? Mine are 27s.

bearings/seals/bb’s etc, all the bits that usually hate mud and grit – how much trouble do you have sourcing them, seeing as these bikes are largely used in such conditons?

All standard stuff. Even BB bearings. Its just the axle which is longer (and the plastic tube inside which you can re-use). Hub bearings are normal too, its the hubs which are wider. I’ve done a lot of beach riding, just hose off with clean water as soon as poss after. Its no worse than anything else and I’ve not had shorter lifespans on anything.

what kind of average speeds are you managing on your usual trail runs? much up or down on your normal 26/27.5/29 runs?

Its only different to hardtail / singlespeed because I can venture into much more interesting terrain 😀

do you feel more tired after a given distance riding these?

Only if there’s a lot of gates to lift over. Otherwise no, its a very comfy ride.

can you take steep drops and hit tabletops etc (given the opportunity) just as you would a standard bike? I’d imagine you’d have to think twice about the ‘gnar’ jumps as surely gravity takes over sooner on a fat?

Yes, the geometry (head tube angle etc) is similar so drops are no problem. The tyres give extra confidence. I was getting more air on the Fatty on the tabletops at the bottom of the Swinley DH run than on my full susser 😀

How many of you ride fat and easily keep up with non-fat mates on a ride, or find you are beating them?

I may be trying a little harder at times, but at other times (soft mud, sand etc) its easier. Example last Thursday night ride I was the only fatty, had a section along the back of the beach. I dropped onto the sand/gravel and stayed ahead of the others on the dirt track above.

I’m really keen, plus I love the perceived value of the OO Trail, but I prefer to ride steel if possible. Can’t help feel that i’d prefer to run a Bluto, though. Almost want to buy the OO Trial just to drop all that weight in going tubeless too!

I cant help thinking tube materials make a lot less difference when you’ve got all that floaty rubber and air. Also I’d suggest a bluto is only necessary if you have a lot of fast rocky stuff to contend with. You do generate a bit of bounce (think spacehopper) hitting repetitive lumps at speed (no damping!). I’ve not felt the need, but plan to get one next spring for Wales trips.

Edit have another photo just ‘cos 😀

60729088-DHP_6290 by Allan[/url], on Flickr